Smart, a company once famed for making dinky little two-seat city cars, has just revealed a car so big, butch, and outdoorsy that the company decided to have the launch event in Byron Bay, Australia…
Is this car as big as Australia?
Not far off. This is the Smart #5, and it’s by far the biggest car Smart has ever made, being the bigger brother to the recently launched #3 and #1. As with those smaller models, this one’s all-electric, and gets a massive 100kWh battery that’s good for a range of up to 560km on one charge.
It’ll be fast to charge, too - this is the first Smart with an 800-volt ultra-fast charging system, which allows it to DC charge from 10-80 per cent in just 15 minutes, assuming you can find a powerful enough fast charger.
How much power does the Smart #5 have?
Smart hasn’t given us official power and performance figures yet, but there is talk of a range-topping version with a scary 640hp Brabus dual-motor setup, a ‘lower power version’ with a still-colossal 580hp version, and then more sedate, useable models with between 335hp and 380hp, as well as more affordable smaller battery options. Smart said the #5 will come with proper off-road driving modes, including Adaptive, Sand, Snow, Mud, and Rock.
How big is the #5 and how many seats does it have?
Looks-wise, the #5 is way more upright and square-edged than the swoopy #3, and it’s big too - 4.7-metres long is about the same as Peugeot’s new 5008, but unlike that car the Smart #5 won’t come with seven seats, which seems like a rather odd choice on Smart’s part. Underneath is the same electric platform as found under the #3 and #1, which means that the Smart is also related to the Volvo EX30 and a whole plethora of Chinese-market Geely models, thanks to the Smart brand nowadays being jointly owned and operated by Mercedes and Geely.
If you want to make the #5 look even more rugged, there’s a Summit Edition, which comes with a roof light bar, an electric trailer hitch and underbody protection, a roof carrier, side steps, a Land Rover Defender-style side bag and a side ladder.
While it might lack seven seats, the Smart #5 should be hugely comfortable on the inside. The front seats are ‘Zero-gravity’ items with leather trim, 121 degrees of recline, V-shaped head curtain airbags, cushion airbags, and seat-integrated safety belts, which Smart says ‘ensure comfort and safety.’
There are leather seats in the back, too, with 1,060mm of headroom. They come with a huge range of adjustments, including a full lie-flat feature that combines with the front seats to make a massive king-sized bed. Just the job for those Monday morning M50 traffic jams…
What kind of tech is on offer?
There’s the option of a disco version of the #5, with a Sennheiser Signature Sound System (which has 2,000-watts of power and AMBEO technology and Contrabass surround-sound tech) with 21 speakers (including one that pops out to become a portable speaker for picnics etc) and another speaker that rises up out of the dash and uses the 256-colour ambient lighting system to pulse and flash in time with whatever music you’re playing. There’s also a projector for a full audio-visual experience, so you can fire up the Taylor Swift videos while charging.
On a more sensible note, the cabin has 34 separate storage compartments, a useful 72-litre ‘frunk’ in the nose, and up to 1,530 litres of luggage space when the back seats are folded down.
Up front, the dashboard has gone all-screen. There’s a 10.3-inch full-colour Ultra HD LCD instrument cluster and two 13-inch AMOLED 2.5K displays, one in the middle and one for the front-seat passenger. All of this is powered by an AMD V2000 high-power computer chip, so hopefully the system will be easier and faster to use than we’ve seen in the #1 and #3 models. There is also a new digital avatar, an animated lion called Leo, who can guide you through the blizzard of screens which use graphics powered by the Unreal Engine software. Adding to the displays on offer is a head-up display, which is set to project an image on the windscreen, which appears to be 25.6 inches across from the driver’s perspective.
To really amp up the Smart #5’s outdoorsy credentials, Smart has teamed up with American bicycle brand Trek to create a custom bicycle called the Project One that goes with the #5, as well as a special tent called ‘The Cave,’ made by German camping brand Heimplanet.
Dirk Adelmann, CEO of smart Europe: “We are delighted to present our first-ever mid-size premium SUV, the all-new smart #5, to the world. With this new vehicle, we are expanding into a new market segment, reflecting our commitment to quality, innovation, and addressing the evolving requirements of our customers. As we continue to broaden our product lineup, we remain focused on providing diverse mobility solutions that cater to different lifestyles and preferences in Europe and around the globe. This vehicle represents not only a new level of premium for smart but also an opportunity to explore new possibilities in the realm of electric mobility.”
